Abstract : Optim@ develops several projects aiming at the improvement of the wellbeing of the population living on the territory of Seraing (Belgium), an industrial town of 60.000 inhabitants. One of these projects consists in carrying out a process of observation and animation on a more restricted territory, namely the area of Ougrée-Bas. This process first of all seeks to build a diagnosis shared by all the actors and to reach a common knowledge of the area. The realization of this diagnosis requires a territorial process of animation and supposes a complete knowledge of the territory. On the basis of resources and needs identified, projects are defined and set up by the actors with Optim@. The method and the tools used could constitute a contribution for the theory on the territorial intelligence community systems (TICS).